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The New Reality

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Before school closed, I remember sitting on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in Science. It was the end of the day, and I was finished with my work. I kept thinking to myself, why am I still here? How is this going to help me in the real world? I was constantly thinking about my civics quiz, the one I studied weeks for, and I couldn’t get my mind off of it.

Now, I’m sitting on my couch, figuring out a way to right this positively. My mom has assigned me some German homework, sigh, and I’m watching reality TV shows. Currently, Toddlers & Tiaras are on. It’s disturbing, to be honest, how some parents set their children up like that. I’m relieved that my mom never forced me to do pageants.

During Communications, Mariam, Emma, and I kept on talking about our DC trip. We planned on going to the Climate Change film festival with Ayyoob, and just explore DC afterwards. Sadly, it was cancelled due to COVID-19, but we had never expected that to be the reason for the cancellation.

I think I speak for all of us when I say I never expected for this pandemic to wreak havoc on our lives like this. Quoting my cousin, we all thought that it was just a problem that China was facing, and now it’s affecting the entire world. I like to blame my mom’s side of the family for inheriting my pessimistic side, especially during these times …

But we all must focus on the pros of this situation and be thankful for what we have. My mom still has a job, and I still have a roof over my head. I don’t have to worry about if there’s enough food left in the refrigerator, or enough money to pay the bills. As exhausted and bored I am in the house, I am glad that I even have a place to live.

2020

2020, please take me back to 2019!

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I’m trying to think of a way to start this blog post off maturely, but it’s difficult when you feel as if the government isn’t listening to you. I should be in school right now, but our governor declared a state of emergency, and shut down all K-12 schools for two weeks. Looking at our county, we could be looking at a month of online school, and returning after spring break, or possibly never.

Coming from someone who overreacts a lot, this situation is a recipe for disaster. I have tried to keep myself busy over these couple of days by practicing my German, binge watching Netflix shows, and spending time outside with my friends. However, the thought of never returning to school frightens me. Don’t get me wrong, I hate school, and I despise the fact over how most, if not all, students are only memorizing the information, and not actually learning the material.  Hearing what top health officials say, if we don’t take action right away, this could be an ongoing condition for months.

How the administration is handling this pandemic is angering me. I don’t want our country’s health system to end up in flames like Italy’s has, yet, it looks like we’re going that way with how unprepared we are. Will this pandemic continue to last throughout the summer? Coronavirus is supposed to affect between 40-70% of the US population, which is between 160 and 240 million people. The US doesn’t even have a free healthcare system, and we’re expected to pay between 50-100 dollars for a vaccine? Sadly at the end of the day, it all comes down to money, doesn’t it? This virus has shown the true colors of our society, how careless and money hungry some of us are.

It saddens me that I won’t be able to go to Communications for a month. I know that we’ll do online school, but being surrounded with these amazing group of people has given me hope about our generation (surprisingly). Communications has not only helped me improve on my writing, but it has also provided me with a group of loving and supporting people. I know I’ll have to say goodbye eventually; I just never expected that our time would be cut short.

As my mom says, there are people in the same boat as me, and I’m taking this time to get back into writing stories. I’ll most likely be active on here, ranting about politics and social injustice, and if I’m not, then I’m taking the time to relax & let the stress from school die down while trying not to jump into conclusions as I always do.

Stay safe, and most importantly, quarantine yourself! You may have a healthy immune system, but think about the others that don’t. We all want this pandemic to go away as soon as possible, and it won’t if you decide to surround yourself with hundreds of people carelessly.

-The Political Junkie

SBC 2019 Challenge

“REFLECTION” – SBC WEEK EIGHT

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  1. ) How many posts did you write and publish during the eight weeks?

 

I wrote and published seven instead of eight posts during the eight weeks because my class was busy during week six of the Student Blogging Challenge. I enjoyed how I was able to look at my friends’ blogs and comment on their posts. I got a kick out of it whenever I would look at what my best friend blogged about. It was engaging to look at the different writing styles & blog formats as well. You had contemporary & modern blogs, but also playful & quirky blogs. You could definitely tell that the blogger’s personality was shining through their blog, and that’s what I appreciated the most about the Student Blogging Challenge.

2.) How many comments did you receive from classmates, teachers, or other visitors?

 

 

I received 16 comments. I don’t recall how many comments I got from them alone, but I know that I got 16 altogether. I was a little bit disappointed, if I had to be honest, about my lack of comments on my blog. At first I thought it was the title of my blog (“The Political Junkie”). Maybe some were a bit taken aback by it, and decided not to comment on it. Then, I thought it was about the style of my writing. Did I not add enough details? Should I have made it less lengthy? But at the end, this whole experience made me realize that even though I didn’t get a lot of comments, I shared my writing online, with people around the world. Because of participating in the Student Blogging Challenge, I feel less nervous with sharing my writing with others. I could’ve never imagined that would happen in the beginning of the school year.

3.) Which post did you enjoy writing the most and why?

 

 

I enjoyed writing the week 5 post about music because my love for music goes very deep. Music has helped me in ways that I never imagined it would do. Whenever I’m feeling sad, it helps me get out of that hole that I dug myself in. Whenever I’m feeling ecstatic, I’ll put on some high energy music, and dance in my room. Writing about something that I love, and getting to share it with people all over the world.

4.) Which web tools did you use to showcase your creativity in your blogging?

 

 

I used a bunch of web tools, but the one I liked the most would have to be the avatar. I used a bitmoji and another website that was provided. I liked the bitmoji a little bit more because it portrayed me more effectively. Personally, I thought that my bitmoji was quirky & relatable like me, yet also a food junkie, and a person with absurd humor. I also enjoyed the avatar that I created. It portrayed me accurately as well, with the purple dress, and the boxy camera. However, I find my bitmoji is a bit more comical. 

5.) What are your plans for your future blogging?
I would love to continue blogging, only because it’s helped me get out of my shell, and share my writing with others. However, I would not like to participate in a Student Blogging Challenge again. When I first decided to start my blog, I was so excited, sharing my political opinions with people all over the world, and maybe even helping them? But, I wasn’t able to do that. I really hope that if we continue blogging, we can blog about what we wanted to blog in the first place (e.g. politics for me).

SBC 2019 Challenge

“HOLIDAYS & FESTIVITIES” – SBC WEEK SEVEN

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Welcome back to week seven of the Student Blogging Challenge! I absolutely love holidays since I don’t have to go to school, and I can spend more time with my favorite relatives. Being half-German means that when celebrating certain holidays, we have different traditions that come along with honoring these holidays. For my blog post this week, I will be writing about some popular German holidays, and how  I celebrate them.


Neujahr 

This is the German word for “New Year’s”, we celebrate New Year’s slightly different than the Americans. We actually use fireworks to celebrate, and feast on delicious food. In Germany, we sometimes send New Year’s cards to family & friends about important events in our life that happened that year. Because of the HOA in my neighborhood, we unfortunately can not use fireworks to celebrate during New Year’s. But, my family still eats delicious food to honor the new year!

Fasching/Karneval

A very popular holiday among children in Germany, Karneval (carnival) celebrates the end of winter and drives away the evil spirits. Originated in pre-christian times, Karneval can also trace back to historical events such as the end of the French revolution. This holiday has multiple different names, depending on which region you come from. Since my mom is from the state of Bavaria, we call it “fasching”. Karneval is like a German Mardi Gras. I like to think of it as a second Halloween but that irritates many Germans (including my mom). As a child, my dream was to travel to Germany and celebrate this holiday. But, because I would have to miss school, and airplane tickets are so expensive, I never accomplished one of my childhood dreams. 

 

Ostern

The German celebration of Easter is not too different compared to how Americans celebrate it. We still cherish the Easter inspired icons, such as eggs, flowers, rabbits, and many of the other customs. A German (and an Austrian) Easter tradition is colorful, hollowed-out eggs. Let me explain this. We poke small holes on the top and on the bottom of an egg, so that a slender, wooden stick can fit right through it. After poking the holes, we hold the stick and paint the egg. Then, we get a tree branch, and hang multiple colorful eggs on the branch.

 


Oktoberfest
I wouldn’t necessarily count this as a holiday, but I decided to add this in for fun. This “holiday” started off in 1810 with Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen (long name, I know). They celebrated their wedding, and had a HUGE celebration in Munich. Like REALLY BIG. It became so popular that they decided to do this every year, and thus Oktoberfest was born. It is a weird name, since Oktoberfest actually starts in September. It lasts for around sixteen days and ends on the third Sunday of October. 

 

Weihnachten
Germany provided some Christmas traditions that most Americans use. Because of traditional German Christmas customs, we now think of the iconic decorated Christmas tree, and Santa as Christmas symbols. Most Germans spend time with their family and *usually* eat goose. German children actually open their gifts on the 24th instead of the 25th. We also have Christmas markets, where they sell all things Christmas related (including cutting boards!) After Christmas Day, some Germans celebrate Boxing Day, but my family does not. 

Music, SBC 2019 Challenge

“MUSIC” -SBC 2019 WEEK FIVE CHALLENGE

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Hi everyone! Welcome back! Sadly, I was too late to link my Week Four Challenge to the SBC Google Form (time differences smh) but I won’t be late this week! I decided to write about my top 10 songs. Music is my life, and I try to incorporate it into different parts of my life. When I get ready for school, I listen to music. When I travel, I listen to music. Whenever I’m feeling down, music helps me move on. It makes me embrace so many different emotions, and it’s a huge part of my life.

Today, I’m going to share my top 10 songs. Disclaimer: some may have cuss words included in them, but they’re really good songs! I try to focus more on the beat instead of the lyrics. It was difficult to choose ONLY 10 songs but I figured more than 10 would be too much.

#1.) I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston
I first became “obsessed” with Whitney Houston after my mom started blasting it around the house. Growing up in Germany, my mom listened to a lot of American artists, but Whitney Houston was one she couldn’t stop listening to. My grandma, being herself, had no clue who Whitney Houston was, nor was she interested. That love for Whitney Houston passed down to me, and whenever a Whitney Houston song plays, I start screaming out the lyrics. True story, my friends are embarrassed by me. 

 

#2.) Latch by Disclosure and Sam Smith
This song is well, interesting. An iconic 2010’s love song, Latch is an incredible song with amazing lyrics and a soothing rhythm. I know a lot of people that aren’t really into EDM, but I don’t mind listening to it. At least not to this song. The lyrics, “You, you enchant me, even when you’re not around. If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down,” remind me of myself when I’m craving something sweet, but I have no money. Haha, all jokes aside, this song is my favorite romance song (which is a surprise since I don’t really lean towards romance songs in general). Definitely a must-hear.

 

#3.) No Scrubs by TLC

This was the song that got me into R&B. After sixth grade, (which was not a superb year for me), I was struggling over the summer. But after listening to this song, it gave me the hope and the self-assurance to bounce back, and become an even better person than before. Listening to Left-Eye, Chilli, and T-Boz’s voices always puts me in a better mood. Because of stumbling upon this song, I started to venture into the genre of R&B, and I have not regret it since. I proudly am able to say that R&B is one of my favorite genres to listen to. 


#4.) Dreaming Of You by Selena

This song gets me in my feelings! Every time this song comes on, I start crying. No joke. Tears are rising to my eyes as I’m writing this right now. I feel so sorrowful whenever listening to Selena’s vocals because she was such a tremendous singer, and her vocals are the type of vocals that I aspire to have, but I know I’ll never achieve that goal. My ASMR video with Mariam can’t compare to her voice. I think watching the biographical movie of her life really changed my perspective about listening to her songs. “Late at night when all the world is sleeping, I stay up and think of you, And I wish on a star, That somewhere you are thinking of me too.” Ahh, I better stop typing before I actually cry.

 

#5.) Truth Hurts by Lizzo

Okay, you may have heard this thousands of times on the radio. Yes, it is overplayed AND overrated, but it deserves to be overrated. This confidence-raising, girl power anthem has inspired many people (including me) to be the best person I can be. Her lyrics (e.g. “Yeah, I got boy problems, that’s the human in me. Bling bling, then I solve ’em, that’s the goddess in me” “You tried to break my heart? Oh, that breaks my heart.

That you thought you ever had it. No, you ain’t from the start”) make me want to stop what I’m doing and start singing all of a sudden. The singer, Lizzo, is a perfect example of never to give up. She’s thirty-one and has been doing music for a long time. “Truth Hurts” was her first song to top the Billboard charts. All that blood, sweat, and tears, and it was all worth it.

 

#6.) Don’t you (forget about me) by the Simple Minds

Coming back to my 80’s obsession, this song is simply a song I can’t get out of my mind (because it’s that good). I’ve listened to a lot of 80’s songs in my “lifetime”, but this song hits me like the others don’t. Maybe it’s because it’s in The Breakfast Club or because it has a good beat, but I remember listening to this song 100 times in the car as a seven years old. A lot of people think I like this song because I want to be trendy, but I honestly really enjoy listening to this song. It is one of my top karaoke picks.

 

#7.) What makes you beautiful by One Direction

An iconic and extremely nostalgic song. When One Direction first became popular, I was obsessed. I mean like stalker obsessed. It was kind of terrifying, if I had to be honest. I made my mom download all of the songs on her phone, and I would obsessively listen to them every day. Whenever someone would insult One Direction, I would quickly clapback. It was that bad. What makes you beautiful is one of my favorite songs from them because I like to look back and laugh about how crazy I was about them. 

 

#8.) Chamber of Reflection by Mac DeMarco

This song is somewhat different to all the songs I wrote about on here. Yes, it’s a different genre, and the lyrics are very short, but the rhythm is relaxing in a way. I chose to put this song on here because I don’t have a memory connected to it, but it makes me feel like I do. Mac Demarco’s song style is also thought-provoking. His songs typically are under some sort of rock or a genre called “low-fi music” (never even heard of it until I googled it!) Basically, his songs give you emotions of sitting back and unwinding, maybe even after a long day. “Spend some time away. Getting ready for the day you’re born again”


#9.) If you leave by OMD

I remember finding this song after watching the movie Pretty In Pink (one of my favorite movies!). I was maybe around eight at the time, and obviously was not an expert about love (even though I thought I was). At the end, when Blane and Andie kissed, and this song played, my heart went BOOM!  When listening to that song, it brings me back a memory of seven year old me thinking that I knew everything about the world. As I rewatch the movie a bajillion times, that song always comes to mind. It’s also one of my favorite love songs! I still don’t understand to this day why as an eight year old I was able to watch that movie. 


#10.) Flou by Angele

Going back to my bilingual roots, I listen to a lot of non-English songs. German, French, Italian, Spanish, you name it! I think listening to songs in different languages helps me comprehend the language more, if that makes sense? I’m taking German as an elective right now in school because I want to understand the language more before I dive deeper into my third language. Trying to find French songs, (since I have family friends that live in France), I found the singer Angele, and her songs are UNBELIEVABLE. My favorite song is Flou, only because the way she sings about her struggles of being well-known. I find it always empowering how some singers are open about their conflicts with trying to have a good reputation & to stay “perfect”.

 


Make sure to leave a comment! It made me feel a bit nostalgic reviewing these songs, since most of them come from when I was a little kid! I would love to hear about your favorite songs, and why you like them. Music is such an immense part of my life and I always want to share what songs I’m listening to. 

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“FREE CHOICE” – SBC WEEK FOUR CHALLENGE

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Welcome back to my blog! Since this week is all about free choice, I decided to write about my trip to Europe over the summer. I figured that this experience would be a great post and it’s also somewhat related to the theme of my blog (I think geography goes with politics). I know most of you are probably intimidated to respond to my posts, but it’s okay! I don’t bite. My friends say that I’m an angel and could never hurt anyone.


I flew to Germany in late July, where my extended family lives. Usually, summers are mild in Germany, but this summer was one of the hottest Germany had ever experienced. Because of this, my mom and I had trouble sleeping because they have no AC!! Can you believe it? I didn’t think I would spend my summer, waking up, and sweating at 2:00 in the morning. Even though that happened, I still had an amazing time seeing my family again, since this was my first time visiting in four years. I visited relatives I had never seen before, I hung out with my favorite cousin, and overall, it felt like I was back in my childhood, like I never left.

However, with all good things, there’s also bad things included. I also had to visit relatives, whom I don’t care for. That was a, well, interesting experience. During my last week in Germany, I was awfully stressed with all the packing and my grandma yelling at me for being on my phone too much (I needed to talk to my friends somehow!). It just sucked how there’s some people in this world that refuse to be friends with you, or even get to know you, because they place a stereotype on you. It’s whatever, I’m already used to it.

My second week in Europe, I flew to Marseille, France with my cousin and my mom. My mom has friends down there, and we hadn’t seen them in years. Besides, my mom wanted to escape Germany and enjoy the fresh breeze from the Mediterranean sea. We stayed in Marseille for four days and also visited Monaco & Nice. It was RAVISHING. My favorite part of the trip was visiting them. Yes, it was BOILING, and I had to walk A LOT (18,000 steps to be exact.) However, it was enjoyable sightseeing and the views made up for my blistered feet.

Marseille is such a fascinating city. It’s the third biggest city in France, and it’s known for its port (the biggest in France). It was strange visiting France because I couldn’t understand anyone! Usually when I visited Germany, I could understand people. But France & Monaco? It felt like people were speaking gibberish. I constantly had to ask my mom what they were saying and she had to order for me. I felt like a little kid again, but at least I didn’t have to speak to people.

Overall, despite my many migraines and breakdowns, I had an incredible trip to Europe. I know I’ll never forget this trip, and the blisters that came with it. I ate a lot of good food, but I also went bike riding and went on walks with my mom. Since my grandma lives in the countryside, there are a lot of bike trails. Biking is very popular in Germany and I know a lot of kids that actually bike to places instead of asking their parents for a ride.

Hopefully you enjoyed my many paragraphs of my trip to Europe. Down below, I’ve included some pictures that I took (I’m such a photographer, I know!)

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“Fun with photos” – SBC 2019 Week Three Challenge

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I can feel the hot, humid air sticking to my body like popsicle juice dripping on my hands. This is a summer day I know I’ll never forget. The summer before high school… the summer before everything changes. I have a feeling in my bones this summer will be one of the best summers I’ve ever had.. It’s a delightful sunny day, a day that I’ve been waiting for a long time. The rain has finally cleared out and Jules & I are laying by the community pool, trying to get a tan so that we won’t look like ghosts when we go back to school. It’s the first pool day of the summer, and for once, it actually feels like summer. Kids splashing around, spraying each other with water guns, preteen girls trying to impress the male lifeguards on duty, popular music blasting on the loud, expensive stereos, the sun shining down on our pale, vampire-like bodies. A typical American summer.
I know in a couple of hours, Jules & I will leave the community pool, walk down to the run-down 7-Eleven, buy two large, mouthwatering cherry Slurpees and walk to our community park, where we’ll talk about what we want to do in high school and get all nostalgic about when we were little. Yet, I also have a feeling that this will be the last time that we’ll do this. Jules & I are changing. I can defend myself now. People don’t boss me around anymore and that’s something Jules loves to do. Jules is the leader between the two of us. She’s the one that would talk to people for me. And now? It’s just different. What if going to Greece to visit my family will change my perspective on everything? I guess that’s one thing I don’t have the answer to. At least not yet.

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“Connect through commenting” – SBC 2019 Week Two Challenge

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Welcome back to my blog! This time, I teamed up with my classmate, Mariam, and decided to create a video that would be different to the other videos my classmates made. I had such a great time putting this video together. (I may or may not have laughed my heart out with Mariam while trying to fix our audio.) Mariam was such a great partner, and I feel sorry for her having to deal with me during the whole video!

Since Mariam and I wanted to do something different, an idea popped up in our minds. We wanted to create an ASMR style video on how to comment because we realized that instead of focusing on our video, we were talking about our favorite ASMR videos. We couldn’t wait to plan out the video and record it. Little did we know, we would face a lot of dilemmas along the way.

While recording, I forgot to mention to Mariam that I have night mode on my computer, so it made the entire video a shade of yellow! (We’re not going to go into depth about that.) We also had difficulties recording our audio, and didn’t even realize our microphones weren’t correctly adjusted until we later put the video together. After hearing the audio, Mariam and I both cringed really hard.

If it weren’t for Mariam and her video editing skills, as well as her patience, we probably wouldn’t even have this video up now (props to her!)  I hope you enjoy this creepy, yet interesting version of a “how to comment” video. If you liked it, or cringed at it deeply like we did, leave a comment down below!

Be sure to check out Mariam’s aesthetically pleasing blog!  http://blogs.lcps.org/mariamsnotsosecretdiary/

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“My new twin” – SBC 2019 Week One Challenge

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This is my avatar that I think looks similar to me. I couldn’t find my actual hair color so I opted for a more lighter version of it. I’m wearing a purple dress because not only is purple my favorite color, but I really liked the cut.
I’m also wearing a watch since I always want to know what time it is. Due to my love of photography, my avatar has a camera around her neck. Considering my passion for fashion, I am wearing a beret and nice, comfortable shoes. As a result of my sensitive eyes, my avatar is wearing sunglasses and is crying, because I’m always stressed out.
I prefer my bitmoji to my avatar I created because I think my bitmoji resembles me and how relatable I am. Overall, I had a pleasant time creating this. I’m so excited and thrilled to be participating in the student blogging challenge! Go check out http://blogs.lcps.org/milkywayswithwords/ you won’t regret it!

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All about me part 2 (A-Z)!

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At first, when I started my blog, I was nervous. I have always been concerned about the negative comments it might get, and I’ve never shared my writing with anyone, except for my best friend. I’ve always loved writing, but there was a fear that my writing was never good enough. It was an uneasy decision I had to make, but it was worth it. I was glad that I took that risk. I was so amazed by my classmates’ excellently written blog entries and their friendly comments on my post. I was so shocked to realize I could write about basically anything on my blog. For example, I was encouraged to write about topics that matter to me such as global warming, human rights violations, international laws, and other jaundiced problems. 

Another aspect of blogging that intrigued me was the ability to be able to communicate with people from different countries. When they respond in a different language, it mesmerizes me. I am still a little bit nervous, expecting optimistic yet a lot of pessimistic comments about my opinions. However, I won’t be quaking about them. I’ll just keep on doing me, ignoring their reactions, squashing the hate, and trusting the path the universe will take me on. On my blog, I promise to be uplifting, vivacious, welcoming, xenial, youthful, zany and most of all, myself!